Picking Up The Pieces
by Fenrir78
Summary: We've all played the game, but have we really seen the true take on all of the scenes? Persona 4 Series Of One-shots, Pairings wil vary.
1. Amagi Challenge

Hey, Fenrir here! I've been obsessed with Persona 4 lately and have been playing it constantly. (I'm already on my 2nd play through =3) And while I've been playing lately, I've had some ideas that have jumped into the back of my head. So that's where these one-shot stories are going to be coming from XD

Pairings will vary, but they'll pretty much be in consistent to which ones I like =)

Well anyway, here's the first one.

______________________________________________________________________________

"_No bet. Haven't you heard how difficult the Amagi Challenge is?" ~Random Student #2_

______________________________________________________________________________

Seta Souji was a pretty well known guy back at his old school in the city. He had a good group of friends and because of his kind-hearted nature he was well received with the rest of the class. He didn't bother them, and they didn't bother him. He liked it that way. Even though he had a bit of a buzz about him, Souji wasn't at the highest level on the totem pole, so he wasn't Mr. Popular. The students with the highest social levels always did well, and thus they were always flocked by a large ring of students. Of course there were always a few exceptions.

There were always a kid or two in the lot who were particularly attractive, and of course everyone gawked at them. If it was a boy, the girl's would swoon over him with heart's in their eyes. And like a guy, he would suck it all up like the bastard he was, acting out his Casanova role all too seemingly well.

And if it was a girl, well...

"Um, h-hey Yukiko-san! Do you want to hang out after school?"

It was a hit and run.

The spoken beauty just turned to look at her admirer, he stood before her a nervous wreck. His face was engulfed in a fiery hue, the sweat off his brow was beginning to caress down his cheek, slowly dipping down the drop to his chin before it ended it's journey on the classroom's wooden floor. The boy's arms hung uselessly at his sides, his fingers twitched occasionally like a crushed bug. He looked unstable, if you had dropped so much as a leaf on his shoulder he would have probably fallen over.

It was truly an eyesore. All the more reason the rest of the gentleman in class couldn't look away from this train wreck. And honestly, neither could Souji.

Yukiko merely glanced at the boy before giving the crushing blow of defeat. A frown graced her lips.

"I'd rather not, sorry." She rejected him without so much as a second thought, she made it look all too easy. Although it's understandable, after all this was the fifth boy this week that had tried to ask her out.

The boy's voice twisted into one equivalent of pure horror. Souji couldn't watch this pathetic spectacle anymore, he turned back to the work on his desk and began to sort out mathematical equations. Even though he tore his eyes away from the student's failed proposal, the sea of rumors flooded his ears.

"Wow! Did you see that?" One of the easily excited students quickly erupted into an uproar.

"Yeah, that guy totally got rejected. He thought he could actually go after Yukiko-san?" Another one of the boys joined in on the fun. If that student was dumb enough to actually still stay in the room at the moment, he must be feeling even worse now, Souji mused.

"I bet you a can of TaP the next guy gets knocked out." The same boy who had started the topic was already beginning to gamble.

"No bet. Haven't you heard how difficult the Amagi Challenge is? And hey, didn't you already bet soft drinks on the last guy who asked her out?" A new voice had risen to all of the buzz, pointing out an obvious note that Souji can still remember quite well.

"Huh? That was like three weeks ago man! Get with the times."

'Three weeks ago...' Souji closed his eyes in reminiscence. He definitely remembered that day well, after all how could he forget. It was the day after he had arrived in Inaba, due to his parent's work overseas, he was forced to stay with his uncle and little cousin. Bright and early that day he headed out to his new highschool under a serene white umbrella, the sky was a pale gray, rain flooded everywhere. As if it were foreshadowing the incoming of a storm of misfortune, or at least that's what he joked to himself as he walked up the hill to Yasogami High. He wasn't too far off base either.

The serial murders that were taking place in Inaba; The midnight channel; The gift of Personas; He had found himself wrapped up in all of these events in a matter of mere days. Reopening his eyes, he tore a glimpse at the raven haired girl sitting across from him. He could tell she was trying to shrug off all of the comments the boys in class were throwing at her, by casually staring down at her assignment and twisting her pencil around in her fingers. But it was a dead give-away that she was embarrassed, her cheeks were glowing a matching cherry red to the headband she wore.

Souji couldn't help but feel bad for her, he knew that she didn't appreciate all of the attention the guys at school threw at her. It wasn't like she was calling out for all eyes to be focused on her, she was actually a rather shy girl. The only time she rarely ever opened up was to her best friend Chie, and slowly she was starting to open up to Souji and their fourth group member Yosuke.

Thinking about it now, would they have all been friends if the murder incidents and the intrusion of the tv world hadn't invaded their lives? Souji couldn't help but wonder sometimes, but nonetheless he was glad. He had great friends, and even through all of the horrors and perils they had faced up to this point, it was one of the few benefits that came with the job of finding the true culprit behind the grizzly murders in Inaba.

A low whistle that sounded from behind snapped Souji out of his day dreaming. It came from Yosuke, Souji's newly found best friend. He leaned back in his chair lazily, his orange and red headphones still clung to his neck. Another good question Souji should be kicking himself for is where on earth does Yosuke hide away his ipod?

"Looks like Yukiko turned down another lovelorn fool..." Yosuke spoke as he observed the scene towards the front of the class.

"Yeah." Souji only nodded in agreement.

"Looks like nobody's conquered the 'Amagi Challenge' yet." Yosuke mocked the title that the boy's of the class had called it, Souji had found it just as ridiculous as he did.

Yosuke threw Souji a puzzled glance, the grey haired youth had caught his friend's look and threw up an eyebrow in response.

"You know... You were staring at her for a while, even after that guy left the room." Yosuke grew a cheeky grin, Souji didn't like where this was going.

"So, what's going on? Don't tell me you've got the hots for Yukiko-san." The dreaded question had finally surfaced, but Souji was prepared for it, he easily had a counter to repel it.

"If I'm not mistaken..." Souji began to inquire, "Were you not rejected by Amagi-san?"

Yosuke's grin quickly subsided and he a look of sheer utter embarrassment grew upon his features.

"S-Shut up!" Yosuke sank back into his chair and crossed his arms like a pouting child. Souji couldn't help but smirk.

"Anyway, answer my question. Do you like Yukiko?" The head phone sporting teen drew his voice into a subtle whisper, so that wandering ears could not pick up on their conversation. They were already in a hype about the boy that had just been rejected, if they heard mention of a new challenger coming up to bat, they would be ecstatic.

Souji threw the question at himself, but of course the obvious initiative came into play. Sure, she was pretty, but he barely knew anything about her. They had just jumped the ship to becoming friends, why would he hastily pull the trigger and rush himself into a relationship with a girl he had only met just a short while ago? He wasn't like all of the other love struck idiots that chased after her. Seta Souji didn't believe in love at first sight... and the Amagi Challenge?

"No." Souji gave his answer, not minding the dejected look Yosuke gave him.

There was no way he was ever going to fall for it. Nope. Never.

______________________________________________________________________________

Souji and the rest of his merry band had been positioned right outside of the front gates of Yasogami High for today's newest mission. The group is under suspicion that the newest star of tv's latest Midnight Channel, is the biker gang crushing thug, Kanji Tatsumi. Apparently the delicate flower of the group, Yukiko, had known Kanji since they were kids. The daughter of the manager of Inaba's prized Amagi Inn, and the foul mouthed gang banger delinquent, now there's a charming thought.

The group had all agreed that it would be a good idea to start a stakeout so that they could catch the culprit in the act. One group would stalk Kanji, while the other would be stationed in front of his family's shop to see if the culprit would seeking out for him thinking he would be at home. The plan seemed solid enough, except for the fact that if they were caught Kanji would bash their skulls in like he tried to yesterday. Souji tried to look at this from a positive angle that this would be motivation for them not to fail in their mission. However he had a sinking feeling that this wasn't going to end well.

"Has the target arrived at school!?" Chie began the mission briefing, she started requesting her information from Yosuke.

"Yes, Ma'am! Visual ID confirmed!" Yosuke responded tentatively, if Souji wasn't already feeling like he was in one of those bad James Bond movies from the States, he sure as hell felt it now.

"Target arrived in-zone near the end of his mess-break, with mother-issued rations in hand. Current Status: In the bathroom, fixing his hair." Yosuke began to file out his report for Chie.

'After what happened yesterday, if Yosuke was still able to approach Kanji he sure had guts.' Souji felt a little admiration for Yosuke, he was a pretty courageous guy after all.

"The target was acting nervous. I left my position before he had a chance to pick on me!"

'Alright, I take back everything I said before...'

"I wonder what kind of plans they made... It didn't seem like he knew that boy very well." Yukiko voiced her own thoughts on the situation.

"Well, I think there's something more subtle-" Chie began to add in her own two cents, however she quickly took note of the giant dark shadow that pressed through the gates, footsteps followed in suit, "Oh, he's here!"

Sure enough, Kanji walked through the school gates, his school jacket hung loosely off his shoulders, which bore the black long-sleeved skull shirt underneath. His hair was completely bleached white, and a sharp scar rode above his eyebrow. He harbored a hostile look in his eyes that just screamed, "Don't screw with me!" This guy looked menacing, no wonder everyone mistook him for being in a biker gang.

A slender figure rolled into view to meet Kanji at the school gates. The young man sported a long sleeved blue coat that looked like it had just been pulled out of some kind of Sherlock Holmes novel. A blue cap was fitted over the young youth's short shaggy dark hair. Souji couldn't place his finger on it, but he knew there was just something odd about this kid. The boy was handsome enough, however he had a feminine air about him, not just in appearance but in voice as well.

"I didn't keep you waiting, I hope?" Despite Kanji's intimidating appearance, the boy remained perfectly calm and cool headed. If he was afraid, he was damn well good at covering it up.

"No, I-I just got here too..." Kanji stuttered nervously, it was as if the boy's presence was frightening to him. Could such a small kid really bring down the legendary Kanji Tatsumi?

The boy and Kanji quickly exited from school, the detective looking teen leading the way with a confident stride, while Kanji lagged a little ways behind. The investigation team left their hiding post, well it wasn't much of a hiding place it was just in a nook in front the school's gate, they stuck out like a sore thumb Souji was sure, but still...

"Wh-What in the world was that...?" Yosuke took the logical initiative of questioning the strange situation that had occurred.

"Oh, a-anyways! We gotta hurry after them, or we'll lose them!" Chie followed up with the obvious course of action. The group needed to make haste before they lost their target, if that occurred the entire point of the mission would be thrown out the window.

"Okay... Then let's split up into two groups," Yosuke began to instruct, "One team will follow Kanji, and the other will stake out the shop."

"R-Roger that! How should we split the teams?"

And thus decision time began. Souji could literally hear the ticking of a clock sound inside his head.

Glancing around at the group, Souji's first instinct was to pear with his head phoned partner, however a string of guilt webbed his stomach as a startling sense of fear occurred to him, what might happen to the girl's if they tried to stakeout the shop alone and the culprit really did come? Sure they were strong, but if this guy was able to murder people by throwing them into the television, who knew what else this guy was capable of? Our gray haired protagonist just couldn't let that stand.

'I need to pair with a girl.' This was his only remaining option. Oh, but which girl should he choose?

He could always pair with Chie, he had known the gal for as long as he had known Yosuke and the two hit it off well. She had a fun personality and Souji could relax easily around her. Although the problem would remain with the pair that would be leftover.

Yosuke and Yukiko?

Not a good idea...

Chie would probably never let him be alone with her like that anyway, and Yosuke had a small crush on Yukiko to begin with. He might try to approach her again, and Souji knew how uncomfortable his crimson jacketed friend was around the subject of 'boys' in the sense of dating.

"How about Amagi-san and I stake out the shop?" The pale eyed teen proposed, "Then you and Yosuke can follow Kanji, Chie-san."

Glancing over at his raven haired companion, he found her to look a little surprised, not that he could blame her after all the two hadn't talked all that much so it would probably appear strange that he had taken a sudden interest in her. Her facial expression held no sign of discontent as far as Souji could tell, at the very least he could tell she didn't hate him. Which is a good sign, since she didn't get along with many of the other boys in their class, he was secretly praying she wouldn't treat him the same.

"Sure... that's fine with me." It worked! Yukiko's prince in shining armor allowed him to associate with her.

'Alright, mission complete-' Souji's mental victory shout was quickly shot down. He grimaced as he noticed that Yosuke and Chie's 'spy' lingo had caught onto him at well. It spread through him like a disease. 'Oh well, I'll just wash it out with that crappy Junes song Nanako sings when I get home, I'm sure that'll set me straight.'

"Oh man, they're almost out of sight! C'mon, Yosuke!" The matter at hand was quickly brought back to attention.

"So, I'm pairing up with Chie...? Eh, okay," Yosuke didn't seem to mind their leader's decision too much, "Alright! We'll need to pretend we're on a date to make it look natural!"

Looks like Yosuke was pulling out his dirty schemes already, but Chie could just kick him for it. That's what happened on a daily basis anyway.

"Not in a million years! There'll be no need for that if we stay out of sight," Chie retorted to his statement angrily, "Sheesh...Let's hurry up and go!"

The two teens quickly made their way down the busy pathway, it was only a few seconds before they and their mission's targets were completely lost from eyesight. The many Yasogami students and other residents from town quickly replaced where there bodies had just been. They were just another one of the many faces in the crowd now.

"I wonder if those two will be alright..." Yukiko muttered her concern to an audible level, she still stared at the spot from where Chie's back had been, right before it disappeared among the many other occupants of Inaba. Souji could sense her apparent worry for her friend, her dark eyes tranced over to the spot where Yosuke had been positioned as well. Even though the two had not been all that well acquainted until just recently, he could notice that she felt care for him as well. Souji couldn't help but give a small smile.

It's not a good thing to be a worrywart, but she genuinely cared about her two friends. That was an admirable trait.

Her eyes flashed up to Souji and a wave of panic graced her face, she quickly threw her gaze downcast at the ground trying to avoid meeting his eyes at all cost. He could feel her growing anxious under his watch. And the color in her face was brighter than what its previous contrast had been. An awkward gap was beginning to form between them.

Perhaps this wasn't going to be as easy as Souji had first processed.

Shaking away her fear, Yukiko managed to muster up her courage and face him directly. She was trying her best to stray from her shy school self, and more like the natural Yukiko that she was.

"Oh... U-Um, that leaves us in charge of staking out the textile shop." Through her speech, she gained more and more courage to press forward.

"So... shall we?" She gave Souji a small smile. Now with Chie and Yosuke's absence, she was beginning to relax around him ever so slightly

Souji eyed her curiously, was this what the guys found so irresistible about her? Her shy, soft spoken nature? Maybe it was a combination of that and her charms.

But still, Souji wasn't going to be like the rest of the male mass and fall for it. Nope. Never.

He gave her a confirming nod, and they made their way to the textile shop.

______________________________________________________________________________

As Souji stood by himself in front of the Textile shop, his mind slowly began to re-analyze the situation at hand. If any of the guys at school had walked by the shop and saw him and Yukiko together, there's no doubt it would register as suspicious in their minds. The boys at school would have something to beat up on him for upon his return.

Maybe pairing up with Yukiko wasn't such a good idea...

He quickly shook his head in dismay, and focused on the real task of his purpose for being there.

'We need to catch the culprit, that's the important thing! There's no need for me to be worried about being caught with a girl.' Souji calmed himself down, usually he wasn't this worked up over something, he was the kind of guy who could handle almost any situation with precision and ease. This situation was no different.

"Sorry about the wait..." A blur of red caught his attention as Yukiko ran towards him, "This one's for you." She handed him a blue soft drink while she retained one of a lighter hue.

Twisting the can in his hand to read the label, Souji mentally read its contents. 'TaP, well at least it isn't Calorie Magic...' He mused as he remembered the weight loss commercial on tv.

'_I bet you a can of TaP the next guy gets knocked out._'

Souji gulped down a knot tied up in his through as he recalled what one of the students had gambled on earlier that day. 'I better be careful here...'

Snapping back the tab on his beverage, Souji downed the soda's fizzy contents and licked his lips in satisfaction. The tasty carbonated sugar left his mouth feeling refreshed, a prickly sensation ran down his esophagus. He needed a pick-me-up. Peeking over the top of his aluminum can, he found that his raven haired friend had mimicked his action, although she had more manners and took a small sip instead of a giant swig.

Thinking back on it now, Souji really knew only very little about Yukiko. Well, if revealing your deepest darkest feelings count, he could still recount the number of things her shadow had revealed to them. Back when he had first met her, he had just arrived at school. And it was only a few short days later until she was kidnaped. Even during the short while she was there, she either left early or she had to attend to work at her family's inn. The only real interaction they got was when spoke to her at the Samegawa River from upon his return on his first real endeavor into the tv world with Yosuke. And even then, that meeting had been kept brief. She had no idea of the other world, of course it wasn't long before she found out.

"_Historic inn? Manager training!? I'm sick of all these things chaining me down!"_

Those words still rang as clear as a bell, along with many others.

"_I don't care where we go! Anywhere's fine! As long as it's not here, I don't give a damn!"_

'What a great way to get to know a girl...' He went from knowing almost nothing about her, to finding out all the ugly truths about her. Although the same thing went for most of his closest friends he had here in Inaba. And looking back on it now, it was understandable why she felt the way she did.

In spite of this she had changed a considerable amount since the incident, instead of walking in the classroom with a gloomy demeanor she held a small smile. She was beginning to cheer up a little, it was a small step, but it was a start. 

"Everything seems fine at the shop. I hope it stays that way..." Yukiko began to make small talk.

Souji merely nodded in response. If the murderer really did decide to show his face, they'd have a lot of problems on their hands, especially with only half of their group available to take action. However, it could also work to the advantage the group was hoping to gain. If they were able to uncover so much as a clue about the killer or his intentions, would that take them another step closer in pursuing the truth?

"Do you think the culprit will come...?" The inn manager's daughter pressed the question at Souji, who considered it for about half a second before blurting out his answer.

"No worries, I'll protect you." In all honesty, Souji would have responded that way to any of his friends. If his friends were in critical danger, he would do as much as could to try and keep them safe. It was just in his nature, maybe that was what drew people towards him.

But since he was around Yukiko, it probably would have been better to choose... a more delicate choice of wordplay. Even though he hadn't meant any romantic tendencies by what he said, the poor girl would have taken what he said to heart. Souji realized the danger zone he had stepped in when her face burned bright crimson.

'Crap!' His brain panicked for a split second, was she going to mark him off as another one of those flirty creeps? Was she going to get pissed and slap him and walk off, and then their newly growing friendship all be for naught? Where ever that kid was, Souji owed him his can of TaP. He gave the drink a tiny shake, at least it was still half-full...

"Huh...? O-Okay... Thanks." Wait a minute, did she just tell him "Thanks"?

"...I'm counting on you." Staring back at the red garbed girl, Souji was completely confused. She wasn't in a fit of rage, nor complete humiliation. Just a short while ago Chie had brought up the idea of having Yosuke ask Yukiko to help him study when he was struggling during his subjects in school. The Junes kid just spoke the two magic words, "Private Lessons" and it was enough to make her fly off the handle, giving her the impression that he had intended an off color topic.

Yet our protagonist went and said something bold like, "I'll protect you" and the girl didn't seem to mind at all. In fact she actually looked and sounded a little... happy?

Yukiko Amagi, now that was one strange girl indeed.

Souji had never met someone quite like her. She was definitely different from the other girls at school, there was a strange aura about her but it intrigued him further.

"It would be scary if the culprit did show up..." She continued the topic further, the blush that overcrowded her cheeks was quickly melting away.

"But if they do, I'll do what I can to help you catch them." A fierce resolve burned in her eyes, one of which that even surprised Souji, "You all saved my life... I don't want to be the only one doing nothing." She wasn't going to sit around and let the boy carry out all of the legwork, she was going to get in on the action and help in any way that she could.

Her rise in confidence gave Souji a small boost in his own, he felt more positive motivation now that he had to solve this case.

"I mean... I'm sure there's something I can do..." The confident spark that filled her eyes was quickly replaced with ones of apology.

"Oh, sorry. I went on and on without realizing... I-I guess I'm a little nervous."

"Don't worry about it." Souji was actually enjoying the conversation for a moment there, he wanted to pick it back up from where they left off. It wasn't like her carrying on the conversation bothered him, actually he didn't mind listening to her.

Yukiko faced the other direction, her soft drink still cupped in her hand.

"I've never chatted with a boy my age like this before..." That was a little understandable since most of the boys that had approached her only sought her out as a girlfriend, they never just wanted to chat. But why had she taken such a sudden interest in him?

On one hand Souji could say it was because of the situation at hand, but on the other she could have very well just ignored him and kept a silent post as she watched over the textile shop, couldn't she? Perhaps she had taken a liking to him, or maybe he was just over imagining things.

"Chie, of course, has no problem getting along with guys because of her personality... But I think she's had mor fun hanging out with you and Yosuke lately." The dark haired beauty paused before finishing her next statement.

"...The same is true for me."

At that, Souji could sense a strange feeling of warmth engulf his chest, it was overpowering yet it had a gentleness to it. This wasn't the first time Souji had experienced such an abnormality, he recalled it first occurring when he shook hands with his head phoned buddy the day he returned to school after awakening his Persona.

'A Social Link bond...' This occurred whenever he made friends or developed a relationship with anyone new he met. As the long nosed old man informed him in the Velvet Room he visited from time to time, in order to strengthen his Personas, these bonds were a necessity.

These occurred from time to time and he was used to it, he recovered from them within seconds so it created no real problems for himself. However even as the effects of the Social Link wore off, another strange sensation enveloped him. Inside his chest cavity his heart felt like it had fallen off its normal course of rhythm, as though it skipped a beat or two. The tips of his ears felt hot, but he only shrugged the strange phenomenon off as after effects from establishing the Social bond.

Yukiko faced him once more, with a smile and a stretch of newly found crimson that colored her cheeks. Souji felt another strange sickening wave of emotion that befell him as soon as he looked at Yukiko. His eyes darted to a deserted part of the street for a brief moment while he waited for the slight pounding in his chest to subside.

'What's the matter with me?' He quickly grew annoyed at himself for the hastened pulse and the red hot searing sensation that prickled his ears. Throwing his attention forward once more, Souji's body returned to normal.

Staring at a billboard not faraway, and epiphany struck him. He still didn't have Yukiko's contact information. He would require it for the investigation.

"Amagi-san, can I get your cell number?" It was a simple enough request, but the girl only appeared more embarrassed.

"Huh? O-Okay, if you want," Yukiko stuttered slightly, "I can't always answer, since I help out around the inn... But feel free to call anytime."

She lifted out a light pink cellular device while Souji followed with a phone of a similar model but with a striking silver finish. They both exchanged numbers and continued out their stake out at the shop, the area remained as isolated as it had been when Souji and Yukiko arrived. The culprit never appeared.

Chie and Yosuke returned, not much luck had returned on their end as well. And to top the icing on the cake, Kanji returned home in just enough time to attempt to kill them! Luckily they were all able to run away from the menace, although Yosuke is pretty positive that he got a concussion from running straight into the wall of the textile shop. But other than that, the mission for the most part, was a bust.

______________________________________________________________________________

As Souji stumbled through the front door of the Dojima residence, he thought for sure that his legs would give way underneath him. Not to quote Chie, but there really was too much running. The pale haired teen felt like he wanted to collapse on his bed and rest his sore legs. But before he could do that he had to greet the joy filled girl in front of him.

"Welcome back, big bro!" Nanako's voice filled the room like a sweet music box melody. Souji couldn't help but crack a smile every time he heard her say that.

"Hey Nanako-chan," He gave the girl a warm smile, "Is Dojima-san going to be home late tonight?"

"Yeah, one of the younger guys got sick again. So he's going to be home late." Nanako's eyes were downcast with sadness, the return of her father meant a lot to her. Especially with how rarely she had gotten the chance to see him since he was always preoccupied with work around the clock.

As the little girl reverted her attention back to her cousin, upon further inspection she found something quite odd about her 'Big Bro.'

"You don't look too good. Did you get sick?" She asked.

"Well, not exactly..." That was all about Souji could get in before he was cut off by the most annoying add in the world.

"Oh, it's Junes!" Nanako sang the sickeningly cheery song over and over again.

Souji felt like ripping out his hair.

______________________________________________________________________________

The bell had sounded for dismissal, and all of the students held up in class were released for the halfway mark of the day. Souji breathed in a sigh of relief. Finally, he got a little break from the stressful environment in class.

Yosuke partook in the celebration as well. "Lunchtime!"

"Man, I'm starving." He stretched his arms above his head before stopping by Souji's desk. The two boy's chatted for a moment before a visitor had intruded on their conversation.

"Souji-kun?"

"Oh, hey Yukiko-san." Yosuke sported the raven haired girl a friendly grin, "Do you wanna hang out?"

"Um, no thanks." She rejected him without a second thought. There goes the sixth strike this week. Yosuke's probably already given up on Yukiko by now, or at least that's what Souji had assumed with this newfound defeat.

"Souji-kun I was just wondering," Yukiko began her request as she fiddled with a strand of her black hair nervously, she was experiencing difficulties with getting the next part of her statement out into the air. But eventually she spoke, slowly but surely, "Um, W-Would you like to walk me home? I-I mean, if you want to..."

"_Haven't you heard how difficult the Amagi Challenge is?"_

There was no way he was ever going to fall for it. Nope. Never.

"Sure, I'd love to."

...Well, maybe just a little.

______________________________________________________________________________

Whew... It's all done. Sorry this turned out to be such a long story, I know it said one-shot. (In fact I thought it would be one too...) But it ended up becoming much longer than what I had originally planned. I was expecting under 10 pages at the most. And well, I got stuck with 16.

I apologize for making it so lengthy, I'll try my best to make the next one shorter. Unless you guys like longer stories (If so please let me know)

If it isn't obvious enough, I used the SoujixYukiko pairing for the first oneshot. They're actually my favorite pairing, so if you like it great because you'll probably see me doing more one-shots about them. And if you don't, then maybe you'll like another one of the pairings I throw in here.

I hope I didn't make them OOC, I tried my best to keep them in check. For our silent protagonist I kind of made up one since it was optional to set up a personality for him in the game, since he never actually really had a voice of his own.

Please R&R and tell me what you thought of it.

Thanks

~Fenrir


	2. King's Game

Thank you guys so much for the reviews, I'm really glad you guys enjoyed it ^^ Constructive criticism is what helps to keep me motivated and keep my writing in check, so I really appreciate it.

There will be more SoujixYukiko in the future, I can assure you of than. (In fact there's a little in today's chapter if you look close) I'll also squeeze in some more pairings on the way, so don't worry.

******UPDATE 7/30******

_I just looked back again at the review section while I was writing this chapter and I got a lot of raves about the SoujixYukiko pairing. Looks like I'm going to have to deliver you guys some serious fluff for Chapter 3 lol. _

Moving on, this one-shot will be focused on what is probably my most favorite scene out of the entire game, the infamous "King's Game!" I actually didn't see too many fics focused on the event, so I decided to add a small story about it. I found the scene quite amusing, but I always couldn't help but wonder, afterwards how did Souji and co. manage to sneak two drunks past the teachers and staff back at the hotel?

They could always distract them with Mr. Bear-sona himself, after all Kashiwagi thought he was some plush toy anyway. Oh wait, he's drunk off his ass too.

Well, this should be interesting.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

"_And theeen, we do stuff like, 'Persona!' with our Personas and beat the crap outta Shadows..." ~Yukiko Amagi_

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Head pounding music bustled it's way throughout every inch of the night club, you'd have to saw your ear drums off to spare yourself the agonizing headache. The only people who found the hip hop beat even the slightest bit tolerable were the teenagers bleeding their ears out while they danced in front of the DJ's speakers. Shining neon lights sparked up the dance floor like the Fourth of July, brilliant shades of red, yellow, and orange bathed the clubroom. If only Souji still had his glasses to shield his eyes from this blinding torment, then again he didn't want to come off as a nerd to the general public. The only reason he was standing in this colorful laser show was because Rise had dragged his friends and himself to the pop club.

The first and second years of Yasogami were all sent on a school trip to New Port Island, the scenery there was definitely a change from the quiet rustic streets of Inaba. It was the sort of town that flocked tourists, celebrities, and movie producers. Being a famous teen singing sensation herself, Rise was also included on the list. The idol had toured the insides and outs of New Port while she had attended to the city to perform a series of shoots and broadcasts as part of her extensive career. Thus she came prepackaged with knowledge about all of the town's hot spots. It was only to her insistence that the party agreed to stalk her all over town while they visited all of her favorite hang out points.

If anybody had meandered over while the group was out enjoying themselves on their scrimmage, and began to pester the students with shouts and cat calls of...

"Hey! Is that Rise Kujikawa!?"

"No way! Really? Where!?"

The boys immediately fell to the defensive and quickly towered over the pig-tail haired girl, forming a protective barrier to divert the public's attention away. For this, the redhead was thankful, however it left the boys in a tight bind as they were forced to constantly keep their eyes wide open as tourists and paparazzi were always out on the prowl.

The other half of the time spent, when the guys weren't leaping out of their skin to Rise's defense, the group was having fun. Well at least the girls were primarily, the boys functioned as their slaves and carried their luggage around as Rise led everybody into a shopping spree assault. By the end of the day, Souji felt like his arms were about to snap off from the elbows. He sensed that Yosuke and Kanji reveled in his discomfort as well.

Teddie dodged the bullet, and occupied a relaxing stroll up front with the girls, he volunteered to fill the occupation of assisting the girls in all of their shopping decisions. Telling them what looked good and what didn't, overall it was a smart move, and being Teddie the girls treated the bear a lot more gently than they would have towards the rest of the males that accompanied them.

He was a lucky bastard alright, Souji swore, that was for sure.

By the time they reached the club, Rise was kind enough to rescue everyone from developing deafness and a case of going blind. She pulled some strings and reserved a quiet, and not overly lit, vacant room on the second floor, away from all of the commotion and chaos that flooded the downstairs. It was easy for the idol after all, you just needed to mention the name "Rise Kujikawa" and your previous options of entertainment would widen immensely. The same guidelines followed for your price budget as well. A bill? Consider it torn to shreds and lit ablaze.

By this time, Naoto had hopped on the freeloader train as well, the party had bumped into him upon entering the dance floor. Perhaps the ace detective really was keen on spying on them, after all he was most likely still under suspicion about the group's ties to the murder cases swallowing the once peaceful town of Inaba. Or maybe he was just out looking for a good time. Souji couldn't decide, but he didn't mind Naoto's company. The more the merrier, right?

Once everyone had filed on inside, Souji collapsed on the vibrant crimson colored couch that stretched from one end of the room to the other. The soft vinyl plush broke his fall, layers of the spongy foam that constructed the couch cushioned his back, providing some much needed R&R to his tense and achy muscle joints. He shut his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief, his fingers rose up to massage his temples, Souji soaked in the much needed comfort his body had lusted for.

Feeling a giant overshadow him, Souji's pale eyes snapped open as soon as a tremor tore through the piece of furniture that he had been currently occupying. Turning his head, the gray haired teen had found that Kanji had decided to sit next to him. Which was quite a good distance away from where Naoto had decided to take his seat, Souji took note of this.

A few minutes after everyone had taken their seats, an attendant walked in balancing a plate full of drinks. Each member of the party had a tasty goblet placed in front of their positions at the table.

Rise declared a toast, everyone raised their glasses to join in on the cheer, and then drowned their throats with the appealing looking substance contained within the cups.

Souji deeply inhaled his before taking the first sip. A sweet berry aroma drifted into his nostrils and tickled the back of his throat. It smelt heavenly, yet almost intoxicating at the same time, it was too perfect of an offer to pass up. Tipping the glass to his lips, Souji devoured the beverage hungrily, the perfect combination sugar and spice coated his mouth. It was incredibly flavorful, it tasted sweet with a hint of raspberry clinging to the sugary perfection as a refreshing aftertaste. Yet it had a certain kick to it that Souji couldn't quite put into words. It was very fizzy, the bubbles lifted to the rim of the cup and brushed the inside of his tongue. By the time he had downed almost half of the entire glass, Souji convinced himself to stop and placed the marvelous drink back onto its original position on the glass table.

"Are you sure this is alright?" Chie was the first one to speak, she threw a worried glance over to the girl who had let them partake in such a treat, "Isn't it expensive...?"

"No worries." Rise reassured her with a smile.

"Two years ago when I had a secret show here, the power went out in the middle of it, and the gig was canceled," The redhead began to explain, "They still owe me from then, so they're willing to put this one on the house."

Chie returned the girl's kindness with a relieved smile of her own. Souji had already figured that Rise had been able to work her magic on the employees in some way, but it was still comforting to know that this wouldn't cost her any expense.

"Well in that case, I'm gonna order more."

Glancing around the room, Souji had found that he hadn't been the only drinking monster. It seemed that many of his other comrades had quite a thirst for partaking in the beverages as well, nearly every single one of the glasses on the table had been sucked dry. Only a couple spare drops of juice still filled the bottom of the cups, they were all due for some refills.

"Whooooo! I'm not gonna hold back either!" Teddie pumped his fist up in the air, slurring his words together as he spoke.

Souji couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at this. Was it just him, or did Teddie sound a little odd? Well stranger than usual anyway.

Almost instantly confirming his fears, everybody's attention was diverted towards the bear, a look of confusion crossed their faces. Kanji was the first to bring his friend's unusual voice and behavior to a conversation standpoint.

"Dude... You sound even weirder today..." Kanji nearly grimaced as he said this.

"Awww, you're sho cold, Kanji..." Dazzling blue eyes fell on Kanji's form, Teddie still continued to slur his words, and what's more this time, he emphasized an 'h' in the word "So." Was this another one of Teddie's lame cracks, or did this bear seriously get smacked in the head?

"Hm... Kanji?" Teddie's attention began to focus more intensely on the bleach haired teen.

"Kanji, Kanji..." The blonde haired boy played his name over and over again in his head, before finally coming up with possibly his worst joke in existence, "I Kanj-ecture that shomething's up! Heeheehee, that's a great one!"

Teddie gripped his sides while he began to laugh uncontrollably at his own obscure humor. All of the other members of the party looked like they were ready to slap themselves in the head.

"Man, you're already in high gear..." Yosuke's face upturned in disgust. He definitely wasn't looking forward to hearing any more material out of the Teddie Comedy Club.

To his far left, Souji heard a snicker.

"Kanj-ecture...!" Yukiko trailed off into another one of her infamous laughing fits. The raven haired girl cupped her stomach with one arm, while the other slapped her thigh. Her voice had been thick with the same strange oddity that was plaguing the bear's.

'Yukiko-san!?' Souji's eyes widened in horror, was Teddie's weirdness contagious? Studying her further, our grey haired protagonist had found that her face was completely beet red, it was as cherry stricken as the jacket she had been wearing. It had a different kind of hint than the one she wore while she had been blushing.

'What's the matter with them? They're both acting like they're dru-' Souji had froze in mid-thought sentence, he took a double-take back to his own glass stationed on the table and the horror of the possibility came crashing down on him, 'Oh shit!'

"She's looser'n usual too..." Kanji voiced his own two-cents aloud, which gave way for Yosuke to form his final deductions.

"Hey, wait a sec! Are these liquor...!?" The head phoned teenager swept his own drink off the table and began investigating its contents. His face held the same worry that had been sinking in Souji's stomach.

"I-I told 'em to give us soft drinks! They're non-alcoholic!" Rise quickly countered. The idol let out a groan as the still sober students gave her disbelieving looks, unbeknownst to her, Rise's face was an even deeper crimson than Yukiko's, if that was at all possible. Her usual cheerful and warmhearted chocolate eyes had been twisted out of focus. She looked like a drunken mess.

"...I told them. Really, I did! Really!" The young girl held her face in her hands, completely hysterical. Her body was racked with sobs, the teardrops that pooled in the base of her palms began to overflow, spraying wet droplets all over the floor.

Souji just sat there in shock. To his left were a pair of laughing buffoons, and positioned diagonally across from him was a crying girl. Just the mere out of place characteristics that his friends acted out made him believe he had stepped foot into a nightmare, not as though the chaos of having three of his buddies turn into drunkards had already made this reality appear as some kind of horrific fantasy.

Although with the rising temperature that quarreled the room, Souji would have preferred to say that this scenario was more like a living hell.

"Aw, sheesh... I was wondering why it's so hot..." Chie tugged at the scarf on her uniform, trying to release some of the hot air and sweat that plagued her body, her remaining free hand fanned her face.

"Is this seriously booze? But the smell's-" Kanji tilted his glass up to his nose, inhaling a little of the honey aroma that clung to the golden liquid contained inside the glass. Souji copied his action by taking a sniff of his own goblet. There wasn't even a whiff of the bitter sting of alcohol.

So just what was going on?

"King's Gaaaaaaame!" A voice that could shatter glass and send the cat flying out of the window shocked everyone to their senses.

Souji jumped a little before seeing that the owner of the voice had been none other than Rise, who had made a stunning comeback from her exhibition of crocodile tears. But wait a minute, what on earth is she screaming about?

"Times like this, adults play the King's Game. It's the law..." Rise continued, this time speaking in a decently audible range. A large hiccup bubbled its way up towards the end of her sentence, uncovering her as more of a drunkard than what had been first imposed.

"What's their problem...? They make me act like a ditz, call me Risette and stuff, and then say I'm a kid," Rise paused with the traditionary hiccup before carrying on her complaint, "It's so obvious... Those wrap parties get a lot funner after I go home!"

'Yeah, I wonder why that is...' Souji remarked to himself sarcastically, he had already resorted to a tactic of snide comments after being unable to tolerate the ridiculous situation anymore as it was.

"Moroons!" Rise exploded from the top again, nearly sending Souji toppling to the floor, "I'm gonna play the King's Game now and ain't no one gonna stop me!"

"Yet another side of Rise exposed... I wonder if she knows what she's saying..." Yosuke commented on his friend's lopsided change in behavior with disdain, yet a pinch of amusement was hinted on top of his words as well.

Souji could only frown upon where the evening had taken them. The day started out normally, what with him hanging out with his friends like he would on a normal day to day basis, and somehow it ended up turning into a match of 'King's Game' with a lot of drunk contestants who looked like they couldn't tell the difference between the ground they were standing on, to the ceiling that hung above their heads.

What sort of idiocy has our protagonist landed himself in now?

________________________________________________________________________

"C'mon, everyone draw!"

How had it come to this again? Souji couldn't even remember anymore. All he knew was that he was forced into the bizarre ritual known as the 'King's Game' and there was no escape.

Recalling the rules once more, as Yukiko explained through her, er... intoxicated state, an array of chopsticks are split in half and divided among each player evenly. Each wooden particle contains a number, while one special rod in particular is marked with a red splotch. Everybody reaches in at the same time and draws their raffle ticket. The contestant fortunate enough to select the colored stick takes over reign as 'King' for that turn. The 'King' calls the shots and decides upon whatever order he/she wishes to make one of the other players perform. However, the King has no idea which contestant has which labeled chopstick, and can only call out a random number and hope that he earned a lucky strike in guessing the person he wanted. Whichever player our royal 'King' has selected will be forced to obey his commands to the fullest, and carry out whatever action to his heart's desires.

Hm, drunkards play this game at a party, where the winning player commands another human being to do whatever they want? Is this game even legal?

A small metal tin was being passed around the room, all of the students had reached inside to grasp one of the eight tiny numbered sticks. Some grabbed more eagerly than others, while the rest were either addressed with a face full of confusion or just downright dread.

The metal casing had traveled within arm's reach of Souji, and the teen had inserted his hand inside cool plated can just as Kanji's had begun to grapple for a winning ticket himself. Souji's fingers traced the inside of the can before brushing up against something sturdy and prickly. His mind registered the object as wood, and he quickly seized hold of his chance and swiped away the chopstick facing the furthest away from the front. Kanji on the other hand took the liberty of snatching the closest stick of limber, selecting the last remaining ticket in the cup.

Squeezing the flimsy piece of wood in his palm, Souji uncovered his finger from the bottom of the stick, carefully peeking so that only he could identify the squiggly writing carved into the slate. Only one lone line stared back into his pale eyes, the number "1".

"Okay, sooooo... Who's the King?" Rise questioned, still heavily deluded under her influence of alcohol.

Everyone's favorite blonde haired bear stood up to his feet upon hearing Rise's signal. His blue eyes widened in surprise and also pure glee.

"Teddie's is red! Red! Is Teddie the King!?"

It seems that drunken idiot #1 has successfully won the prize, well this will prove to be interesting.

"Ugh, we're already doomed from the get-go..." Yosuke groaned, his mind was already beginning to fill with ways that the fuzzy blue haired bear would torture them with.

'He'll probably try and get one of the girl's to kiss him,' Souji brain stormed, 'After all, this is Teddie we're talking about...'

"I, the King, command thee to smooch the King without delay! Smoooooooch!"

'Bingo!'

"S-S-S-Smooch!?" Chie stammered, throwing her chopstick a nervous glance. She was obviously panicked, but she only had a one in seven chances of being selected. The were still good odds that brunette would be spared.

"Please God... Grant me a girl!" Teddie held his hands together in prayer, wishing from the bottom of his heart that he would receive his maiden's pure kiss.

'Well, I can see how well he planned this one out.' Souji had to resist the temptation of rolling his eyes.

"Number 1!"

'Number 1!?' Souji sprang to his feet in sheer horror. 'You've got to be kidding me!'

Teddie turned his way, his wide dirty grin quickly fading into the jaw dropped expression that Souji had shared. The blonde boy's face had turned as white as a sheet, the usual cheerfulness that sparked his charm was completely absent, leaving behind an empty shell. Teddie held as much life in him as a ghost.

"I meant Number 2..." Teddie quickly called back his previous accusation, trying to force off his french make out on another helpless victim.

"No take-backs!" Yosuke quickly retorted, from the corner of his eye Souji could identify the number 2 scribbled on the back of Yosuke's chopstick.

'Gee, thanks partner...' Souji felt his confidence drain from him completely, he should really come up with some excuse for Chie to kick him in the face later. Knowing that pair, it won't be difficult.

"Smooch, smooooch!" Yukiko cheered on the proposition of a male to male tongue sharing, her arms waved wildly in the air as she yelled.

'Not you too Yukiko-san!' Souji could feel a little part of himself die inside when she threw that out into the conversation. Even through she was probably spouting all this out under a different state of mind than the one that usually remained conscience within her sue to her roundabout of drinking, it still stung all the same as if she had told him this while she had remained perfectly sober.

He still harbored feelings for the inn manager's daughter, just shortly after they had saved the raven haired girl from her own demise, Souji had begun to develop a romantic interest in her. However, he has still been unable to profess his feelings toward her, mainly because of all the conflict the serial murders had caused, not too mention the struggles of daily life in general. But also the insecurity of being unknowing to how she had felt towards him. If she wasn't interested in getting involved with him, he could risk the chance of sinking the boat that was their friendship, and he wanted to avoid the worst possible outcomes at all cost.

'You're not going to want to kiss these lips after you've found out a bear has touched them...' Souji's mind was dark clouded with horrific thoughts of what the future may bring.

"Hey, wait a sec. Don't I get a say in this!?" Souji threw himself on the defensive line and resisted the option they had given him. However nobody was reasoning to listen to his distress.

He might as well say goodbye to straight life, after this moment nobody was going to treat him the same ever again. The girls would be too disgusted to grow accustomed to him, and the boys would be too creeped out to even so much as stand next to him. Our protagonist would be tossed into the same bin as Kanji had been categorized in.

He would probably spend his afternoons over at Kanji's house, crafting together dolls and stuffed animals and whatever other frilly girly things gay boys pieced together. Well, at least Nanako would have something to look forward to. Although he day would come where his little cousin would question her 'Big bro's' manliness. He might as well just mark his life as over.

Raising himself out of his stupor, Souji shook his head to rid himself of his overly exaggerated imagination.

'No, stop. This is stupid, nothing's even happened yet. I've just gotta calm down... I'll get out of this mess somehow. Hear that, you can't touch me gay thoughts!' The gray haired student felt like shaking an angry fist at all of the disturbing mental images that had probed his brain just seconds ago.

Relaxing himself, Souji took in a deep breath before he began to carefully assess the situation at hand. His grey eyes danced from wall to wall, trying to unveil the easiest and quickest escape route out of this fire. He focused intensely on the door that stood at the far end of the room, not a single person in sight and it remained as free as a bird.

'If I tried to make a break for it, would they stop me?' Souji pondered his friend's antics, wondering how far the influence of liquor would drive them.

"A bear's chastity: True love needs a sacrifice," Teddie's voice brought the anchor of reality back onto Souji's shoulders, causing the boy's mind to scramble for a resolution, the bear didn't take not and only continued his monologue, "Just for you, Sensei. 'Teddie'."

'Oh crap, here it comes...'

With this finished, the bear threw his hands up in a pounce, looking like a carnivore about to feast on his dinner. Souji didn't have enough time to react, he could only squeeze his lids closed to spare himself the agony of gazing up onto the atrocious sight of a lip locking blonde boy. The enormous thud that had shook the entire second floor made him think otherwise.

"Ow, hey! Not me!" Kanji's voice rang to his ears, the biker crushing teen sounded as though he was in mortal peril. And he pretty much was.

Turning on his heel, Souji captured the photo ready scene with his eyes. Kanji had been pinned to the floor by Teddie's body, the young Romeo held his hands locked around the thug's wrists, he sat crouched on top of the teenager's torso, his face draped dangerously close to Kanji's. The tip of his blonde locks hung in his face, and tickled the taller boy's nose. Teddie held those dazzling sparkles in his eyes, they made his sapphire orbs glower more than usual. Kanji contrasted by turning a sickly green, he looked about ready to vomit. If the fangirls were here right now, they would be screaming.

Normally, Souji would have felt great sympathy for Kanji and at the very least attempted to pry the bear's claws off of him. But the teen was too busy reveling in his own fortunes.

'I've been spared....' He let out a deep sigh of relief, thankful that fate had turned his way. Now he had been saved! No more worrying about others believing that he had turned gay, and no need to fret about finding a lovely girlfriend or just hanging around the guys in general.

'That's right, I'm...'

The sickening disruption of smooching had cut through the atmosphere.

'...about to be physically scarred for the rest of my life.' Souji had to divert his eyes away from Teddie and Kanji's 'lovely' kiss in order to prevent his eyeballs from burning inside and out of the sockets.

Everybody else held their own piece of disgust, except for Rise and Yukiko, they were too drunk to let the horrific display bother them. Was this what it was like at all of the King's Games?

"Ohooo... Only the first round, and two contestants have dropped out already." Rise reported in, still as enthusiastic as when the game had first begun.

Souji quickly re-occupied where his previous seating arrangement had been aligned, and fell back into place as an original standing contestant in the 'King's Game' much to his displeasure. He didn't want to be thrown into the fray again like last time, especially with what had almost been over-spilled on him.

"Huh? Is it that kind of game?" Chie asked, still completely puzzled to the games mechanics. Yet she also sounded a little perplexed, Souji couldn't blame her.

"On to round two!" Rise shot up on her feet, fist raised in the air. It was apparent that the redhead was still drunk full of energy. Which was just what they needed.

________________________________________________________________________

The tin metal can had been passed around again, Souji however made sure to take a great more deal of precaution for the second roundabout of this monstrous King's Game. Plowing his hand in carefully, his fingers dug through the few remaining sticks until he had determined the one he wanted. Slowly withdrawing the one he had chosen, a tiny slimmer of crimson entranced his grey eyes. And sure enough, there was a splotch of red painted onto the bottom.

"Who's the King?" Rise asked, bobbing her head from side to side merrily.

Souji raised his hand proudly, satisfied that now he would be able to take over the reigns of this crazy game. Chie basked in his moment of joy and gave a relieved smile, her eyes held a depth of understanding in them as well.

"Phew, someone decent... No crazy orders this time..." The kung-fu girl shot Souji the 'look' and he merely complied with a nod.

'If I could, I would give the order to find out what they put in those drinks.' Souji still eyed the goblets that lay on the table, he hadn't even dared to touch his again after he had discovered what had occurred to the girls and Teddie. No matter how delicious it was, he wasn't going to take the chance of slipping another sip again.

"That's not how it goes! If the last King demanded a smooch, then the next order's gotta be more extreme." Yukiko quickly quelled the once peaceful atmosphere, and erupted another catastrophe that laid heavy on the rest of the player's shoulders.

'More extreme!? How do you get more extreme than a kiss? What am I supposed to do, act like the bear and score with one of them? What if I get Yosuke or- ugh, I don't wanna think about it...' Souji held his head in his hand, trying to fight off all of the visions that infected his sanity.

Another one of Yukiko's laughing fits hit his ears, before Rise and the red jacketed girl began coming up with suggestions of their own.

"Heyyy! The person who gets picked should have to rest their head on the King's lap." Rise hiccuped her idea to the rest of the group, and at this Souji's ears pricked up.

'Rest their head on the King's lap?' He liked the sound of that, well if he got a girl anyway. This 'King's Game' sounded a lot more appealing right now.

"Nah, make 'em sit on his lap." Yukiko countered with another one of her drunken propositions, Rise only continued the string of tie breaking decisions.

"Oh! Or they could have to hug him!"

"Better than that... A piggyback ride!"

'I really don't see how these are all more extreme than a kiss, but I still like where this is going.' Souji marveled at his own stroke of luck. That's right, he was the King! He could make them do _anything_ he wanted. The taste of power was beginning to turn him mad, all of the dirty things he could come up with for the girls... this was the perfect time to put it all into action!

But then, he was struck by those puppy dog eyes again, Chie was gazing deeply into his eyes with sincerity, it melted his insides into butter. He could sense her pure trust for him literally radiating, it pushed him into a corner.

'Oh alright,' He finally caved, not being able to bear the guilt any longer, 'But you owe me...'

"C'mon, King! Who's gonna do what!?" Rise looked desperately towards her grey haired Senpai, awaiting his decision.

Everybody's gaze was fixated on Souji right now, he was standing in the limelight and there was no way to back out now. He felt himself grow ever so slightly smaller in comparison, but he braved their leers and awarded them his orders.

"#3 hugs me." Souji spoke his words with pure confidence, yet regret stuck partially to his short sentence. Obviously he had been lusting after a much more heated course of action, but to Chie's persistence he let it slide.

'You better be damn happy Chie.' Souji sighed inwardly with discontent, he loathed his decision.

'Oh well, it's just a little hug, it's not going to kill anybody...'

Yukiko's cheery laughter filled the space beside him. "I'm number 3!"

By this time, the protagonist had been set off on red alert. 'Wait, what!?'

Yukiko took each step with grace as she glided in front of Souji, even through binge drinking, she had somehow managed to maintain her walking composure. Unlike Rise who appeared to be teetering over the edge each time she attempted to press her body forward. The raven haired beauty paused before him for a second, her dark eyes drank in the very sight of him. Her face had been cherry coated enough as it was, it was impossible to tell wether or not a blush had been cringing on her cheeks. Souji, on the other hand, was one hundred percent positive that his face was tinted scarlet, he could feel the sizzle of the heat scorch all the way up to his ears. A racing pounding filled the void in his chest, accelerating to an incredibly high rate. Even through her intoxicated state, he pondered if she really understood what she was about to do.

Bridging the gap between them, the crimson jacketed girl sat down on Souji's lap, giving the boy no time to stand on his own two feet and giver her the proper embrace. She swung her legs over his lap so that they were facing directly in front of her, roping her arms around his neck, she rested her head on his shoulder, flowing black locks draped over her back and curled onto his neckline. Her body squeezed tightly against his, and she introduced no sign of release.

"Y-Yukiko-san!?" Yosuke stammered, stunned but at the same time appalled that it wasn't happening to him.

"How else would you hug someone who's sitting down?" She let out a giggle, the breath from her words caressed Souji's skin, and sent a tremor running down his spine. In reality, it made it all the more clear how close her lips were to his face.

Perfect... This situation couldn't be anymore perfect! Souji greedily invested into his prospects of their embrace and enjoyed every moment of it. He soaked up her scent, which wasn't tapered with liquor, but rather a flourescent fragrance that engulfed her long raven hair, it smelt wonderfully. She wasn't heavy, in fact she was as light as a feather, Souji would have had to put in no effort carrying her. Not only that, but she felt warm, it brightened his own self up at just how comforting the sensation was to him. He draped his arms around her back, and returned the tight squeeze, he was thankful to have spent this moment with her, even though she probably won't remember any of it later.

Although he should probably stop grinning like an idiot, he was earning himself dirty looks from Chie.

________________________________________________________________________

A few hours later, the party had begun to run over time due to their 9o'clock curfew hour, the school had set the limit for how late at night the students could be meandering around the streets of New Port. Throughout the groups mishaps at the club, nobody had cared to take note of the time, however Naoto was thorough enough to keep his himself organized at all times.

"It's getting late." Naoto had taken a tiny silver pocket watch out of his pocket, observing the various etches carved onto the clockwork frame, as well as the pending needle drawing ever nearer towards the upper left roman numerical expression. It was odd for someone of this time to still be carrying around such an ancient piece of machinery, but it was a sure trademark for any classic detective.

Clicking the top lid shut with his index finger, the shaggy haired investigator quickly deposited his gadget, and let his dark harbored eyes take a tour of the room. The only ones who were able to stay successfully conscious at this point, had been the ones who had remained sober at the start. Souji and Kanji were nearby a half asleep Teddie, the bear had been trying his best in staying awake, but he had been failing miserably. His head would slowly stoop lower and lower towards his chest, right before his chin touched his bare flesh, he would quickly pick himself back up, shouting false accusations about how somebody had pointed out that he had been "Falling asleep" when in reality nobody said anything. In fact, the drunkard's loopyness hadn't halted there, he had continued to voice his concern over many other distasteful subjects. The detective had believed the bear's outbursts were due to his mysterious intoxication he had received from the beverages served at their room, which as Naoto had explained in detail earlier, contained absolutely no alcohol whatsoever. That, and as Yosuke had pointed out, it was far past Teddie's usual bedtime.

The lady's gave no resistance and fell prey to their alcoholic slumbers. Yukiko had nestled her head against Chie's shoulder, the head banned girl had been knocked out cold for quite some time already. Rise was no different, and had cozied up to two thirds of the end couch's length. Naoto, being the gentleman that he was, kindly offered up his seat on the couch, which the pig- tailed girl gladly accepted. It was no trouble to lull the redhead to her dreams, however speech still forced its way through her lips, Rise was definitely a heavy sleep talker, but nowhere near as outrageous as where Teddie's words had landed him. Yosuke took guard duty position over the idol, he remained sitting with his arms crossed and head phone music blazing. However, as Naoto began to talk, the brunette carefully lowered his ear muffs.

"I've had a great time spent with all of you here, it was... enjoyable." Naoto extended his condolences to the rest of the remaining party, he selected the words he had found best fitting to give in his gratitude.

"Same here." Yosuke flashed the detective his famous trademark grin.

"Hey, if you're not busy tomorrow, we should all hang out again." Chie proposed the outing suggestion to Naoto, whom happily accepted the invite.

"I'd like that," A rare smile formed on the investigator's lips, "Well then, I bid you all farewell."

With a final bow the first year student had excused himself out of the clubroom, leaving the central party alone inside.

"He's kind of a weird guy..." Yosuke commented on his underclassmen's formality, finding such manners rather out of place, especially between friends.

"Yeah, but he's not bad." Chie remained on the positive outlook of their new friend's personality, she had begun to take a liking to Naoto.

"I-I've got to leave too." Kanji sprang to his feet not long after Naoto's absence, he had resorted back to the fidgety demeanor that had always brought him out of place whenever a certain student detective had appeared in front of the party.

"Hm? What's up Kanji?" Yosuke threw a questioning glance toward the biker crushing delinquent, who only evaded the question in response.

"It's, it's nothin' is all," The first year combed a hand through his bleached blonde hair, "I've just got something to take care of. Later Senpai!"

With that, the teen made a mad dash out of the room, and quickly drifted out of sight. The entire bizarre nature of the conversation just now left Chie scratching her head.

"Sheesh, what's his problem?" The brunette voiced her own concern.

"Dunno, but doesn't it feel like everybody's just been suddenly leave-" Yosuke froze mid-sentence, the lightbulb in his head finally going off.

"C-Chie?"

"Yeah?"

"What time is it...?"

Chie withdrew a small cellular device from the bright green jack that had been fastened around her waist. Flipping the top layer open, her brown eyes widened in shock at the three digited code that sat atop the upper right corner of her screen.

"It's ten minutes til nine!" She shrieked at the results displayed on her cell phone page.

"W-What!?" Even Souji, who had remained decently quiet up until this point, had leapt out of his seat. There was no mistaking it, the numbers shined as clear as a whistle, 8:50.

"Damn... Looks like we're the responsible party." Yosuke grimaced as he scanned the interior of the room, he found the three handicapped members who had ended victims of their own drunkenness. Or as Naoto had quoted, they were all imbeciles.

"W-What are we going to do?" Chie threw the Junes boy a panicked face, which only caused him to sigh and scratch his head in return.

"Well, first thing's first," Yosuke slowly began to guide Chie along, sounding more and more like a leader, "We need to get these guy's back to the hotel."

"Ted, where's your bear suit?" As the brunette preoccupied himself with the hibernating Teddie, Souji and Chie took the liberty of taking care of the resting girl's.

Chie had first tried to carry Yukiko out, supporting her best friend's weight by wrapping the raven haired girl's arm around her shoulders, and snaking her arm around the young girl's slim waistline. However, she held slight difficulty walking, due to their similarity in height and weight. Souji offered to take the scarlet garbed girl off of the stubborn kung-fu crazed girl. At first, she had been reluctant to hand her over, but after realizing how much of a struggle this was going to be, she forked her friend over to their leader of the investigation team.

Souji cradled her in his arms bridle style. He smiled in satisfaction at how easy it was to carry her, she really was as light as a feather. Well as light as human beings can get anyway.

Chie was left to fill in the supporting role as Rise's crutch, the bumbling girl had been shorter and smaller framed, making it that much easier for Chie to make the travel back to the hotel.

Finally getting Teddie all zipped up in his costume, Yosuke gave the signal for the party to move out.

"Alright, let's go."

________________________________________________________________________

After much of a fuss, the party was finally capable of pressing onwards, and narrowly escaped back to their hotel with seconds to spare. Unfortunately, only one problem stood in their way...

"Crap! It's Ms. Kashiwagi, she's right inside." Yosuke gritted his teeth at the roadblock they had now faced. The party's home room teacher had been straying not far from the entrance, capture would be definite if they had managed to get themselves caught.

Kashiwagi... Souji remembered the woman well. After their capital A-hole of a teacher, King Moron, had been murdered by a student coming from a highschool different than their own, this woman had been sent to fill the dick's shoes since the first day they had returned back to class after hearing about his passing. Credits for this arrangement all go to the school advisory board. As all the boys in class had commented, Kashiwagi had hit the wrong side of forty. She was flirty to say the least, but not in a good way. Her personality was one that sent the girl's screaming, and turned off the guy's immensely. She tried to come off with a little sex appeal by wearing revealing tops and tight shirts to expose part of her cleavage, however her old and withered body combined with her nasty personality just made the lady even more disturbing. It was like trying to fall for Hanako Ohtani, it just wasn't going to happen.

"Oh my, is that you over by the entrance Hanamura?" The elder woman called out, in her usual flirtatious tone of voice.

"Damn, guess she saw me." Yosuke cursed at his luck, but jumped the barrel by entering inside, dragging Teddie along inside. The brunette kept a tight grip on the bear, despite all the wiggling, Yosuke was able to hold him still to make him appear as a stuffed animal.

"Tick tock Hanamura, you're late." The woman leered at the young student, making him sweat from all of the tension that had been placed on his shoulder's after meeting her steel gaze.

"Oh, well New Port's so big I guess I got a little lost." He tried to shake it off casually with a chuckle, luckily she bought into it.

"Is that so? Well, please be more careful next time." Her eyes danced to Teddie's giant form.

"Oh, is this the teddy bear Seta-kun constructed in class the other day?" The woman questioned, Souji had been able to slip past the hotel doors with Teddie by tricking the teacher into believing that it was a stuffed animal he had created. It was amazing how easily she bought into the ruse.

Cautiously and silently, Souji and Chie tiptoed through the hotel entrance with their friends while their teacher had her back turned towards them. As long as Yosuke could keep her busy, they would be able to pull this off.

"I had needed to borrow it, but I was just about to return it to him, Ms. Kashiwagi..." Yosuke continued to fib his way through the entire conversation, while Souji and Chie began their descent across the room.

However they had forgotten to take note of their bear friend's loud intoxicated outbursts, even though the bear's mouth didn't budge an inch, his voice was still loud enough to echo across the entire floor.

"Kashiwagi, that's a great one Yosuke!" The bear's chided laughter was out of the bag. Yosuke promptly took the initiative of slapping the bear over the head.

"Keep it down will ya!" The brunette warned, of course Kashiwagi paid no mind to this and delved further into what had been previously commented upon.

"What's a great one?" The elder questioned, quite perplexed at the remark that had been committed.

"Um... you're great!" Yosuke quickly covered up Teddie's comment, disguising it as his own.

"I was just thinking to myself, 'Wow, that's one great teacher you've got yourself, Yosuke.'" For any normal human being, nobody in their right mind would fall for such a ridiculous coverup. But for someone who was as in love with herself as Kashiwagi, anything was possible.

"My, my, flattery could get you quite far with me." The slutty instructor proceeded to bat her makeup thick eyelashes at her pupil. Yosuke's face only filled to the brim with grim, no man alone would want to touch her, and the woman's swooning only made it worse.

"Anyway, I've-" Yosuke attempted to abandon the conversation once more and turn away, but as the luck of the devil would have it, Teddie just couldn't stop shouting.

"Gah! It's sooo hot in here." Yosuke delivered another fist to the bears plush head, the teen was only inches away from ripping the bear's stuffing out of his suit.

"Teddie!"

"My, my, it is getting a bit _warm_ in here isn't it?" If Kashiwagi had been fun and flirty before, she was completely seductive now.

"Mr. Hanamura, are you implying that I take off my clothes? What a naughty boy." The dark haired adult prodded the boy further with even more erotic questions, she tugged a fingernail at the corner of her tight white t-shirt.

"W-What!?" The brunette nearly flew up against the back wall. "I-I never said anything like that!!"

"You know what I'm getting at don't you?" The older woman only stared her student down hungrily, enjoying each piece of torment she had been inflicting into him. Yosuke, could only stand there and watch as the events before him unfolded in pure horror. There was no way this situation could get any worse. Although, once he thought this he would instantly be disproved wrong once again.

"It's hot, heeheehe. Hot, like scoring a 'hot stud'!" Another one of Teddie's obscene jokes jumped into the fray, causing the situation to become unbearable once again.

"Oh Hanamura, you really like to get down and dirty, don't you?"

The boy's brown eyes shifted over to where his friend's had now reached their safe haven, screaming only a single request, and that request alone.

'Help me!'

________________________________________________________________________

Whew, well that wraps up this one-shot, I apologize if I made the ending seem rather out of place, I was trying to aim for something humorous.

There's a little SoujixYukiko in here for all you SY fans, some of it being detailed in the hugging scene, and also in the other section earlier that discussed Souji's unrequited feelings. Hmm, but are they unrequited? We shall see!

Also, I used the same exact options during my written portrayal of King's Game, as I had during my original first playthrough of Persona. Just a little fun fact.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, please R&R and tell me what you thought.


End file.
